Future Classic Women Awards – Eleanor Wilkinson, Violin Philharmonia

Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today our guest is violinist Eleanor Wilkinson from the Philharmonic Orchestra. Welcome! Thank you very much. Good morning. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to hear a new type of— new type, I mean, you're a violinist, right? You're a soloist as well. You've performed a solo concerto with the orchestra, but you have an incredible experience collaborating with the Philharmonia Orchestra. You've been with them for how long? 31 years now. 31 years. That is fantastic. I mean, this is something— Philharmonia is one of the most renowned orchestras in the world and How was it to be— to start to perform with them? Well, first of all, yes, 31 years ago I did an audition and came from studying and working in Vienna, and then I'd heard about the jobs going, and I did an audition and came and then passed the audition and then did a time of trial and then eventually moved to London. To be with the orchestra, and it's just been the most wonderful experience for all this time, you know, the amount of musicians and artists that I've worked with, with everyone else in the orchestra. And within the orchestra, most of the musicians are just fantastic artists themselves. Well, the orchestra becomes a sort of a family, isn't it? Yes, because of the fact that we— we work so much, you know, practically every day and— And you tour and so you travel together. We do, yeah, a lot of touring, travelling. So you said, you know, you moved to London. Shall we tell the audience where are you from? Well, I'm originally from Northern Ireland, Belfast, where I was— where I grew up and studied violin and then I, to my great fortune, I wanted to go to study in one of the colleges in London and I'd heard about I was a member of the National Youth Orchestra and I'd heard about this great teacher, Yossi Zivoni, and I'd been over to London for something and I knew he was— I saw him on an airplane because he was coming over as a soloist. Oh, wow. Something made me get up and go and speak to him and ask him if I could go and play to him. That's amazing. So I was— if, you know, I wouldn't be here today if it really wasn't for him and the influence he's had on my life. And also, if you didn't have the courage to stand up and go and ask him. Well, yeah, so I asked him if I could come and play to him. Because often, you know, you meet these incredible artists and you are a fan of them and somehow you get stunned, right? And you can't talk, isn't it? So it happened to me. I met with Evgeny Kisin at my graduation and I've been a fan of him, you know, for all my life because I really love the way he plays. And so I remember I was going up the stairs, he was coming came out of the church where we were doing the ceremony, and he received the fellowship with Royal Academy of Music. And I couldn't say anything, and he couldn't— he just looked at me. You know, sometimes you look so silly and you just say hello. That's it. Yes. And that's all I had to say to Evgeny Kiseinna, like, you know, I love the way you play, etc. Did you have any other starstruck— how do you say— starstruck moment? Well, I think we've had quite a lot of people working as soloists with the Philharmonia. And I remember once in my early days, Pinchas Zukerman was playing a concerto with us. Oh, but he just sat on my stand for a while and started to play my part that I had in the orchestra. And I just remember not being able to speak. It was a funny moment. That's a very funny moment. So there is a question I always ask my guests. How did you decide to become a classical musician? Well, I do come from a musical family and my parents bought me a violin for my 6th birthday and I just started learning and my father, who didn't work as a musician, but he played for me and accompanied me and he used to give recitals on the radio for the organ and piano. Okay. So all through my life before I left home to go to college he would accompany me for auditions and play with me, work at home and also So I had teachers in Northern Ireland. And as I went on in school, I was very fortunate. This is one of the themes of my life. My chamber music teacher was a man called Heinz Hammerschlag, and he was an émigré from Brno. He escaped just before, you know, well, during the beginning of the war. He escaped to Belfast, and he had a great influence on my life as well. As did his then wife, Joy Hammerschlag. She was a viola player in the Washington Symphony Orchestra. And a couple— his second wife had— Alice Berger Hammerschlag was an artist, and I used to sit in his house and look at her beautiful paintings on the wall. And both his— she died in 1969, and she was a great artist, and I accidentally found one of her paintings this summer, and I'm been doing research, going to archives and things, and she was an émigré from Vienna, as was his other wife that I knew after the second wife died, and her— his wife who was a viola player that I knew, her husband, first husband, was a Viennese composer as well. So it's funny that a lot of strands in my life have all linked together with Vienna and Germany. So actually, the first piece we're going to listen to is a performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra with the conductor Otto Klemperer. It's a 1961— pardon me— 1961 recording of Death and Transfiguration, right? Yes, that's right. My voice is transfiguring at the same time. Do you want to tell us something? Why did we choose this piece? Well, I chose this piece because I just think it's absolutely wonderful, and it's sort of this— the story of this man dying, and then at the end his life is transfigured to a better life in heaven. And— but it was the first piece that I played in the Philharmonia. I remember 1988, 27th of September. Oh, wow. 10:30 in the morning with Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting. And we were about to go to Japan 2 or 3 days later. But, but the sort of the, the impact this piece had on me, the richness and the drama and the depth of feeling in it was just so amazing. And just to explain to the audience, so this is a piece about— divided in 4 parts. The first one is the sick man that is near death. And the second part is when there is the battle between life and death. They offer no respite to the man, so it's really intense. And then there is the man who is about to die. He realizes he's about to die, and he sees the life passing by, the life passing before him, all his past and what he has done in his life. And the part that we chose is the last part of the death and transfiguration that is the sought-after transfiguration. So the artist, the poet, now sees that through his art he's actually going to live forever. And it's a very beautiful moment of relief. And there is this fantastic solo of the violin coming in. And yes, it's an absolutely wonderful piece. And I think the Philharmonia, with its famous for its beautiful sound, Just— I played it absolutely beautifully. Let's listen to it then. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Meg Matthews and I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Join us for a brand new show on Women's Radio Station. It's the Meg's Menopause Show. Yes, for the first time on radio, there's an entire show dedicated to the menopause. A fresh new approach where we inform you of all the choices and treatments that are out there. Supportive and empowering, this is your show. So join us every week with a host of celebrity guests, our very own resident doctor, where we talk about everything menopause. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishcon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. My name is Ingrid Marsh and I host the Radical Wellbeing Show, supporting women's wellbeing. On my show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you who are sharing their unique stories. Women who have refused to be defined by their pains, to be silenced by stigma or crushed by stereotypes, and who are taking back their power. And together, our mission is a simple one, and that's to inspire you to kick away the roadblocks too, to don your wings and be the person that you were born to be. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. Daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network out for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station— that's Women's Radio STN— or Facebook, Women's Radio Station, to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Our special guest today is violinist Eleanor Wilkinson from the Philharmonic Orchestra. Eleanor, um, I have to ask you, as a pianist myself, you know, I'm a soloist, so I don't have the opportunity, the luck to be all the time in the middle of such a big number of fantastic artists like you do when you are in an orchestra. Like an orchestra, you got 40 people 60 people. Is there a special energy? I can see it when I come to a concert and I see all these fantastic musicians creating one unique sound. Do you feel this energy? I really do. I think the Philharmonia is special for that. If we've had a terrible day traveling and, you know, or holdups or delays, no matter what, when we get to the concert, no matter where it is, this orchestra just gives something extra and really goes for it. And that's, I find, very, very special. And it's just sort of, for me, it is a sort of this, as the entity of a symphony orchestra, the Philharmonia is one of the best examples. You'd have a great string quartet or whatever, and it's a great, great symphony orchestra and really cares about the music and details, which I love. And it sort of had quite an old tradition and quite a European tradition founded by Walter Legg, and in the early days Herbert von Karajan conducted it and Furtwängler. And a lot of— they say that the sound, especially in the violins, is passed down through generations, and I think that's very, very important to keep that, and I'm really— I love it that it, that it's still there. Now, between all the conductors, is there anyone specific that made a mark on the way you play, for example? Um, or each of them is giving something that is interesting and that evolves? Because, for example, you might have played let's say, Beethoven symphony many times, but under different conductors you play in different ways. Am I right? Yes, absolutely. When I first came to the orchestra in the first 10 years, it was every week another great conductor, and they were all sort of— they were all towards their 80s at that time. You know, we had Yevgeny Svetlanov, who's wonderful, and just So many, Charles Dutoit and Carla Maria Giolini, that was wonderful. And I loved with Giolini, we got this, he sort of added to the beautiful sound of the Philharmonia by getting a certain quality from us that was very, very special and warm. And I think with Beethoven symphonies, we once did sort of a series of all the Beethoven symphonies with Nicolas Harnoncourt from Vienna, and he does he did have early music orchestras, but the way he did it was very, very special within the medium of, you know, a contemporary symphony orchestra. But it was incredibly special how he did these symphonies, and it hasn't— I don't think we've done it like that since. But, yeah, there have been some wonderful moments. I mean, I'll never forget in my first couple of years with Yevgeny Svetlana from Russia, we played Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony in the Festival Hall. Oh my God. And it was, it's just, it was incredible, the performance. And in the third movement, there's the most beautiful tune for the first violins, think figure 53. And he just got everybody else to be so quiet and he just brought out our melody. And then at the end, he blew the first violins a kiss. And I'll never forget, I mean, he couldn't speak English at all. He always had an interpreter and often he was very grumpy. And so she wouldn't interpret everything he said. But there was something so special about him and what he did with his hands and communicating to the orchestra. It was just incredible. That definitely gives you an idea of how music doesn't have a specific language. It's international, isn't it? You speak with the heart somehow. Yes, absolutely. Is there ever been a way that they asked you to play Beethoven Symphony, Mozart, whatever, that you disagreed with? Well, I have to be careful what I say. No, don't say the name, but I'm asking, does it happen? Sometimes you get some conductors might want to just— there might be a current trend to maybe not use vibrato or something. It might be the fashion to try to sort of hail back to the original times, but I think for me, I'm, I suppose, I'm old-fashioned in the way that the Philharmonia is how it is. It's got a rich, warm sound, and we're Beethoven and Mozart, I just like to play them as a warm symphony orchestra. And actually, you have a special connection with Vienna and with the, you know, the classical school. So I remember friends, Germans, pianists, for example, and for them, the way you play Beethoven, they know because they are from there, you see what I mean? Did you feel that when you were studying in Vienna? I did, yes. You performed with the Vienna Orchestra as well, didn't you? Yes, I went to study there after studying with Yossi Zivoni. It was his idea, it was a great idea to go and study in Vienna with Josef Suk, who was the great-grandson of Dvořák, and he was a great violinist. And also I worked as well in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and other groups. And it was, yeah, it was lovely to get that sort of sound and the tradition. And after studying with Josef Suk, I sort of worked with somebody else who was very much in the— Franz Samuhil, who was very much in the Viennese tradition with a lot of lovely old-fashioned fingerings in the parts. I'll never forget studying with him Schubert A Major Sonata and lovely old-fashioned fingerings and things which I believe in, I really want to pass on because it changes the sound and changes the feeling in the piece completely. And it was a great time and yes, I loved being there and, you know, working and living there for 5 years. Now the next piece we're going to listen to has a connection with Vienna. It's the Korngold Violin Concerto. Am I right? Yes. Yeah? So played by Joshua Heifetz, and we're going to listen to the first movement, his Moderato Nobile. Why did you choose Korngold Violin Concerto? Well, I just, I love Korngold's music, and he was obviously, he was an émigré from Vienna who went to live in Hollywood. This is quite a theme with me. I love looking at musicians who might have still lived there had it not been for what happened in the war. Korngold's music, well, I love it, and recently I did, in a recital, I played the Korngold Violin Sonata, and it was a recital I did in the memory of Alma Rosé, and she was the lady who directed the women's orchestra in Auschwitz. Wow. And she died there, and her father was Arnold Rosé of the great Rosé Quartet, and he was the most famous leader of the Vienna Philharmonic. Mm-hmm. Their— his wife was the sister of Mahler, so it was a real connection there with everything. And unfortunately, the Rosés had to leave Vienna, and they came to London, and then she went— she was director of women's orchestras, and I did play a few of these women's orchestras with waltzes and things in Vienna to earn my rent at the time, and that's what she did. And when she went to Holland for some as they say, gigs. Yeah, from London, because there wasn't any work in London because they obviously, they had to leave Vienna. And she went to Holland, and unfortunately one time she was caught and taken to Auschwitz. But I did meet a lady, um, a cellist, Anita Lasker, who was in the orchestra with her. Oh wow. And said she was quite fierce, Alma Rosé. But, um, when Anita was a child, she got tuberculosis, but then She, you know, Alma was quite strict with her because she hadn't practiced enough in the orchestra, but it saved her life by playing in the orchestra. And Alma Rosé saved lots of people's lives by giving them jobs to even to copy music and different things. And so this, I wanted to do this recital in her memory. And I also played music of another Viennese composer, my chamber music teacher's wife that I knew. Her first husband was a Viennese composer as well who had to leave. And so I played Kurt Röger and I played some of that music. So it's all been quite influential in my life, and it seems to be coming full circle. But Korngold's music is lovely. Let's listen then to the first movement from the violin concerto played by the incredible Joshua Heifetz and the Philharmonic Orchestra. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. Hi everyone and welcome to the Femaleing Show. 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Women's Radio Station can give voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programs. We can tailor your experience for you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station. Today our guest is violinist Eleanor Wilkinson from the Philharmonic Orchestra. Eleanor, actually I forgot to ask you, sorry, but yesterday was Women's Day, right? Did you do anything special or? Not really. We had a free day, which was lovely, and I was just thinking about today. It's great to be here on the Women's Radio Station. Absolutely. Speaking for women. I don't know how I forgot to mention that. But, you know, you told me something very interesting about your career, about the fact of being a woman musician and your experience when you were younger in Vienna and performing with the orchestra and not having equal condition. Well, it was the story that, yeah, it was in the sort of mid-'80s, early '80s, and I remember, you know, if you get jobs here and there, so the people who come to do the job that day for a concert, they're all a mix of musicians from different groups and things. And I just remember a couple of chaps I was talking to who were in the Vienna Philharmonic at the time, and they were saying, "Oh, we can't have women because they create certain problems," or their health things, or— and I remember having quite a sort of live discussion with them about that. But now, since the last— I think the Vienna Philharmonic was the last orchestra to have women. They started off with a harpist. I remember the Berliner, they were famous for only having men on them. Vienna is very, very traditional. But in my day, I was first extra with Vienna Symphony Orchestra and I was one of two women. Playing with them, and so there was that attitude that women didn't play so much in orchestras. I mean, there were other orchestras that did have women, and I was very fortunate. I played in a contemporary group as well, Zwanzigste Jahrhundert Ensemble, and the other members with it were members, principals from Vienna Philharmonic. So I suppose as a woman it was okay, and if you, if you were able to do it, then they accepted you So, but it was just one or two attitudes from those older, more famous orchestras at the time, which I think have changed. So did you see, did you ever have a problem being a woman apart from when you were in Vienna? Did you feel that maybe even with conductor being particularly favorable more to a male first violin instead of a woman? No, no, not at all in this country, in the Philharmonia, not at all. 'cause it's quite mixed, female and male, and the main thing for the conductors, I suppose, is that they get their interpretation of how they see a piece is brought out, doesn't matter who's playing it. Absolutely. What about women conductor? We've had one or two. Yeah, they're getting more right now, isn't it? Yes, yes, exactly, and it is very different, takes a while to get used to, but but it's good to see there are some women conductors. I mean, I sort of myself miss the great days, the early days with all the great conductors every week, and also being an age thing, I suppose, when a conductor is in his 70s or 80s, they have more to give and more to say. And Kurt Zanderling was one who used to come into rehearsals and say, "As you can see, I'm still alive." That's funny. Yes, he had great stories to tell, and it was wonderful doing Brahms symphonies with him, and he was absolutely wonderful and told us some stories of the past. So what would you say was the most exciting moment in your career? My career? Well, in the Philharmonic, there have been so many, with some special tours, and we once did a tour for Disney Fantasia 2000 all around the world. I mean, it sounds a silly little thing, but just the fact that the coaches at the airport, we got to America in Los Angeles. They were just waiting at the bottom of the steps for us and little things like that. It was— and some tours to South America and places is exciting and Australia for the first time. But also on a musical note, I was very, very fortunate to be asked to play a solo part in— we were working a lot with Lorin Maazel and he'd written a cello concerto and in it there was a solo part for a violinist apart from the orchestra, and I had to stand in one of the boxes in the Royal Festival Hall and amongst the audience in another hall and play a solo line. And I felt that was, that was an exciting— Absolutely. And especially to work with him because he's somebody that everybody was slightly— I don't say scared of, but in awe of. And he wasn't easy to communicate. And I just remember having to talk to him backstage a little bit, and he didn't give anything away, but he was very supportive to me in front of the orchestra. And I had, you know, had to obviously play it, rehearse it in front of the orchestra. So it was— I felt that was a great honor to do that. Absolutely. And instead, what would you say was the most challenging moment in your career? Well, challenging. Unfortunately, I had a couple of accidents in my arm, and recently I fell and broke my arm, and I was off work for 7 months, but I managed to get back to playing, and I've, you know, did all the physio work and practice and rehabilitation, and things are fine, and I'm back at work again, enjoying playing, and I've got some concerts myself coming up, which I'm looking forward to. I mean, for a musician, there is nothing worse than— it's the worst nightmare to break a finger or Arms, you don't even think about them. It was between a rehearsal and concert near Waterloo. I just fell, tripped on the pavement. Oh my gosh. Yes. Well, the next song we're going to listen to is from Strauss, the 4th last song, Richard Strauss. And is, would you say that in English, in German, the title is When Falling Asleep? Ja, beim Schlafengehen. Beim Schlafengehen, with soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. And conductor Herbert von Karajan with the Philharmonic Orchestra. So this is one of the final songs that Richard composed just before dying. Yeah, well, these 4 last songs are so incredibly beautiful. And when in the first 10 years we did some amazing concerts with Jessye Norman singing the 4 last songs, there was one in Salzburg Salzburg, in the Salzburg Festival, and she sang, and in London. It was just incredible. And unfortunately, we didn't record the 4 last songs with her, but this recording of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf— her husband founded the Philharmonia, Walter Legge. All right. And so, um, this is great to have this recording. Let's listen to it then. Um, dear Tom, can I speak to you? Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station. Supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Meg Matthews, and I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Join us for a brand new show on Woman's Radio Station. It's the Meg's Menopause Show. Yes, for the first time on radio, there's an entire show dedicated to the menopause. A fresh new approach where we inform you of all the choices and treatments that are out there. Supportive and empowering. This is your show. So join us every week with a host of celebrity guests, our very own resident doctor, where we talk about everything menopause. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. My name is Ingrid Marsh and I host the Radical Wellbeing Show, supporting women's wellbeing. On my show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you who are sharing their unique stories, women who have refused to be defined by their pains, to be silenced by stigma or crushed by stereotypes, and who are taking back their power. And together, our mission is a simple one, and that's to inspire you to kick away the roadblocks too, to don your wings and be the person that you were born to be. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio Station, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station. Our guest today is violinist Eleanor Wilkinson from the Philharmonic Orchestra. Eleanor, you shared with us some of the most beautiful stories of your life as an artist and as a musician. Now it's time for the odd question. So I'm going to ask you, do you have any hobby to free your mind or relax? Well, I do these days. I love listening to birdsong. And I'm trying to learn the different songs of birds, and it's quite difficult. Wow. And but it's— I just love it. And, you know, hearing birds singing is so beautiful. And I can tell you, I have an annoying bird. When I was practicing the piano, I have a bay window and there is a tree right outside. And there was these birds that just go in there, 2 or 3, and they were together singing with me. You know, if I wasn't playing the piano, they were silent or kind of, but if I was playing, they were shouting. I was like, shh. They obviously loved it. Indeed, they loved it. Yeah, that was quite— but it's very special, isn't it? And give you that special joy also to listen to them singing. I find it very positive. And also, my other hobby is, well, fortunately it started off with on tour in my free moments, I would go to art galleries. Oh, nice. Sometimes have lunch there. And I got really into expressionist paintings, German expressionist paintings, all the paintings that were banned by Hitler in the war, and a lot have been lost. And that's just led one thing to another. And, um, I, I suppose one of my— then it led on to getting to know more artists. And one is that I love is Lionel Feininger. He actually was German, but born in New York. His parents were musicians, and they sent him back to Hamburg in sort of in the early '20s something to study the violin in Hamburg, but he decided to paint. But he played the violin all his life. All right. And I love his paintings. But then the funny thing is, um, my chamber music teacher in Belfast, um, often would have the lessons at his house, and I would look at paintings on the wall, and they were from his second wife, this Viennese Emma Gray, who had died in 1969. And one of the paintings that I've recently looked at again, I thought, oh, that looks like a Lionel Feininger. And that— and I think I grew up with looking at her painting, and that's how I sort of felt a lot for Feininger's paintings, because she, she, um, I think she took a lot of influence from him in her studies as an artist. Artist, and especially from the Bauhaus movement. And, um, her name was Alice Berger Hammerschlag. And as I was off for 7 months, I accidentally came across one of her paintings in London, which I now have. And it's just wonderful. And I've been doing research on her life. It's all been such a coincidence. Research on her life, as I said earlier, I'm finding out about things about her. And she and a very famous Northern Irish artist Deborah Brown, um, had an exhibition in London. And I've— in the Tate archives, I find newspaper cuttings of them sorting out their paintings to go to London for the exhibition. It was the New Vision Art Gallery in Mayfair, which doesn't exist now. And my painting is in the newspaper. Oh, really? Oh no way! That was from the '60s. And so I'm hoping to go and see Deborah Brown. She lives now in Donegal. She's in her 90s. And to ask her about Alice Berger-Hammerschlag, whose nickname was Litsi. I have met some people who knew her. Wow! And I just love her art, so I'm quite passionate about that time of art and expressionist art, but her paintings have gone through different phases as well, and it's almost abstract expressionism, this painting that I've got. And wow, that's a very exciting, very interesting story. Now the next one, the next Next question is if you have any ritual or superstition before going on stage. Not really. I'm just— I always like to be uber early for things so that I can get there and relax, because if I got there at last minute, I wouldn't feel so relaxed. And thanks. That's a very good advice. Yeah, the first violin job is quite a big job, and you— and there's a lot to play, and also just to try to know the part very well. Actually, I have a question. You know, it happened to me to sit by mistake on the first row. Does it ever happen while you were playing as a first violin? So you are in the first row of the violins that face the first row of the audience. So you're really near to them. Did it ever happen that someone was very distracting or? Not terribly. Okay. You do find in the Festival Hall, having been there for 30 years, there are regulars that are always there. Okay. Some of them have become familiar faces. They're at every single concert of ours and some of them have passed on. I do remember once I accidentally dropped my shoulder rest off the stage onto the floor and there was a lady, she's, I think she's the first female rabbi, Julia Neuberger, she picked it up for me and gave it back to me. Nice. Do you have any other funny moment that you can recall? Not too many. The odd time you see the conductor, obviously his baton flies across the orchestra and somebody gets it back to him. Oh my gosh. But I mean, a funny thing happened the other day. We were doing some pieces by Sir George Benjamin, and the first two stands, we had to have special practice mutes for the last number. There were just the four of us, and a couple of us were reminded, have you got your practice mutes? And we'd forgotten to bring them on the second half, so we had to run off in front of the whole audience and go and get our practice mutes. The conductor came on, things like that, but not too many sort of things. Okay, not too many. Okay, great. Now, what's your next project or special? Well, apart from a couple of solo things, I'm hoping to do in Vienna a chamber music concert with a former first horn of the Philharmonia and his mother, who studied in Vienna in the '50s piano. It's the music of Eugene Hartzell, and he came to study in Vienna with a pupil of Alban Berg in the '50s, and through friends whose— a friend of mine, his wife is his daughter, Eugene Hartzell's daughter, so that's how I've sort of got interested in the music. So we're hoping to play, do the horn trio and some other pieces of his in a concert Nice, fantastic. All right, now the last piece we're gonna listen today is Mahler Symphony No. 9, is the adagio, the fourth movement, part of it because it's very long, but with the fantastic Lorin Maazel as conductor and the Philharmonic Orchestra. Oh gosh, and this was the beautiful Mahler Symphony No. 9, the last movement, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra with Lauren Mansell. Thank you so much to Eleanor Wilkinson for bringing this beautiful music and your wonderful experience. Thank you so much for having me. In fact, today was one of the most exciting days in my career coming here. It was beautiful. Thank you so much. If you have any questions that you would like to ask ask to our guests, guests, or nominations for Future Classic Women Awards, please email presenters@womensradiostation.com or tweet us @WomensRadioSTN. You've been listening to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, live every day at 10 AM and 10 PM London time. 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